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Wansiru gives Kenya marathon gold

Kamesh Srinivasan

— PHOTO: AP

HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT: Kenya’s Samuel Kamau Wansiru overcame humid conditions and a tough field to win the marathon gold in an Olympic record time on Sunday.

BEIJING: Samuel Kamau Wansiru of Kenya overcame the hot and humid conditions to outclass a pack of top runners in winning the marathon in an Olympic record time of two hours, six minutes and 32 seconds on the streets of Beijing on Sunday.

“I was able to pull away because I had enough power and speed,” the champion said.

The Olympic record of 2:09:21 of Carlos Lopes of Portugal had stood from 1984.

The 21-year-old Wansiru became the first Kenyan to win the marathon gold in the Games, and promised that he would break Haile Gebrselassie’s World record of 2:04:26 next year.

“It feels good to make history for Kenya and win the gold,” Wansiru said.

Jaouad Gharib of Morocco took the silver 44 seconds behind the champion, while Tsegay Kebede of Ethiopia sprinted in the end to snatch the bronze from compatriot Deriba Merga.

Problems with humidity

Like everyone else, Wansiru also had problems with the humidity, but he had considerable reserves of energy to emerge unchallenged in the climax, to run solo into the Bird’s Nest.

“I had to push the pace to tire the others. My body gets tired in the heat when I slow down,” said Wansiru.

The World record-holder in the half-marathon, Wansiru had the early pace to stay with the lead pack which included the outstanding runner of the season, Martin Lel of Kenya and his teammate, World champion Luke Kibet, who eventually dropped out before the 30km mark with stomach cramps.

When Merga further shortlisted the leaders with a surge after about an hour-and-a-half, the double World champion, Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, looked to be losing touch with the front pack, but he hung on.

“There were attempts to throw me off. I always tried to stay in the race and stay on top. In the last kilometres, the Kenyan was able to overtake me and win the race,” said Merga.

The defending champion, Stefano Baldini of Italy finished 12th, nearly seven minutes behind the winner.

“With 6km left, I tried to push. It was hard, but they didn’t keep up. From the start, I wanted to push my best, but I had to save myself for the later part of the race. The humidity made it hard, and I just wanted to finish,” said Wansiru, who will skip the World Championship next year and run the Berlin Marathon instead during the same period.

“I want to go to the Berlin Marathon to break the World record next year,” Wansiru, who runs about 100 to 120km a week and about 700km a month during his training periods, said.

Gharib pleased

Gharib was pleased with the silver medal at 36 years, and said that he hoped to compete in the London Games in 2012.

“The Kenyans ran fast, and ran slow sometimes,” said Kebede as he revealed his difficulty in coping with such tactics.

“Finally, I overtook Deriba Merga by several metres. I felt very happy, because I didn’t expect that,” said Merga, about clinching the bronze ahead of his teammate in a strong field of 98, in which 22 failed to complete the race.

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